Phantom: Interference
by LizzieLovett2326
Summary: Third installment of my retelling of the cartoon series. Now that Danny's dating Paulina, he finds himself spending more time with cheerleaders and jocks than Sam and Tucker. Of course, his actions have a habit of coming back to haunt him. Literally. (Oh dear, now I'm making ghost puns.)
1. Chapter 1

Phantom: Interference

ONE

Jazz leaned heavily on her elbow, hand propping her forehead up as she watched Dash struggle with the math problem. He boxed an answer and slid the notebook over to her triumphantly. She glanced at the work.

"Dash, that's the same answer you got before," she said, "You just wrote back over everything you erased." Dash's shoulders drooped slightly as he pulled the notebook back to him and picked up the eraser. Jazz stopped him, and ripped the page out of the notebook.

"Here," she said, "Try this one." She wrote a simpler problem down for him. Dash grabbed the pencil and got to work. Jazz picked up her phone and pretended to check her messages just so she could see the time. They still had thirty minutes before she could wrap up. When she'd signed up for the job, she hadn't realized tutoring students in math would be so _hard_. She looked back at Dash, who for all his brawn was possibly the most academically inept person she'd ever met. Glancing at the scrawl of numbers on the page, she saw he was headed in the right direction. _Good_, she thought, _maybe we can finish early_. She heard the front door open.

"Hey, Jazz!" Danny called. He walked into the kitchen, leading Paulina behind him. Jazz forced a smile on her face upon seeing the girl. What had her brother gotten himself into? Danny frowned when he saw Dash.

"What is he doing here?" he asked. Dash looked up.

"What does that mean, Fen-turd?" he snapped. Jazz interrupted.

"I've started tutoring him. He'll be here every Monday after school," Jazz said. Danny scoffed.

"If 'Fen_-turd'_ is the best you can come up with, no wonder you need tutoring," he said to Dash. Paulina laughed. Jazz stood and crossed her arms.

"Danny, can I talk to you in the other room, please?"

"Yeah, sure," he said with a shrug.

Jazz led him into the office and shut the door quietly.

"Listen," Danny said, "If you're gonna tell me to be nice to Dash, don't bother. We have a bully-bullied relationship, and I'll even the score any chance I get."

"I'm not going to tell you to be nice to Dash," Jazz said.

"...So...what then?" Danny asked. Jazz crossed her arms.

"Well...I...well...Danny, be nice to Dash!" she snapped.

"If I'm nice to Dash, you've got to be nice to Paulina," Danny said.

"Are you comparing my tutoring Dash to your—unlikely as it is—relationship with Paulina?"

"Unlikely? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on, Danny. You can't possibly think it's normal for a girl like Paulina to be with a guy like you," Jazz said.

"Guy like me?" Danny asked. Jazz sighed, trying to come up with a response that wouldn't make her brother any angrier than he already was.

Meanwhile, Paulina and Dash were having a similar conversation in the kitchen. As soon as Danny and Jazz had left, Paulina had sat down next to Dash, taking the pencil from his hand and forcing him to pay attention to her.

"Listen, Dash," she said, "We need to talk about how you've been treating Danny." Dash grinned.

"Your _boyfriend_ Danny? Really Paulina, I can't believe you're dating that guy," he said.

"He saved me—"

"From the 'dragon'. I know, I know," Dash said.

"Anyway, I'm dating him. Play nice. Can you do that for me?" she said. She stared up at him with a doe-like expression. Dash rolled his eyes.

"I don't get it, but fine. For you, not him," he said.

"Thank you Dash!" Paulina said, overly sweet. She glanced at the math.

"And carry the one," she said. Dash groaned, looking back to the problem.

"Come on Paulina," Danny said as he stormed back into the kitchen. Jazz followed him, frustrated.

"Dash, we're done for the day. Do that worksheet I gave you and we'll go over it next time," she said.

Danny and Paulina ran upstairs as Dash started to pack up.

* * *

"So, Danny," Paulina said, "What did your sister have to say?" Danny sighed, and flopped down on his bed.

"She wanted me to be nice to Dash. As if," he said.

"Oh?" Paulina sat down beside him.

"I mean, you know Dash," Danny said.

"Yeah, I know Dash," Paulina said. They were silent for a moment.

"How's your head? It's been over a week now."

"Better. I feel fine, but I still can't read anything or look at screens for too long. The doctor told me I have to take it easy with cheerleading too."

"That sucks," Danny said.

"It would've been worse if you hadn't saved me," she said. Leaning in, she kissed him softly. A few days ago she had kissed him for the first time. It didn't take long for him to realize how much he liked kissing Paulina.

"I didn't save you from anything," he said when she pulled back.

"Yes you did. You may have convinced the police there wasn't anything weird going on, but I remember more than you think," Paulina said. She went in for another kiss, but Danny drew back.

"What do you remember?" he asked.

"So there _is_ something—"

"I mean, what do you think you remember?" Danny said.

"Danny, let's not worry about it." Again, she tried to kiss him and he pulled away.

"Paulina!" She huffed moodily and sat back.

"You're so serious Danny. Is daddy asking you to spy on me?" she asked, pouting. Danny couldn't help but stare at her lips. Big rosy lips—focus!

"No. I'm just worried about you," he said. Paulina huffed, and sat back.

"Fine. I'll tell you. There was a dragon, and you were trying to keep it from hurting me. And that guy, the one in the coma. I think he showed up after the dragon. That's all I remember." Danny felt relieved. If Paulina knew anything about him being the ghost boy, she was keeping it a secret. And Paulina kept secrets like a strainer held water, so he was probably in the clear.

"No dragon," Danny said, "Just you and Sam falling down the hill." Paulina rolled her eyes.

"If you say so," she said. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face close to hers.

"How is Sam, by the way?" she asked.

"She's fine."

"Really?"

"I haven't talked to her much," Danny admitted. Paulina smiled.

"Good," she said, "Because I'm _so_ the jealous type."

* * *

After Paulina left, Danny snuck down to the basement to grab the thermos his parents had invented for capturing ghosts. It was the first time both of them were out of the lab all week. After they heard a _dragon_ had attacked Paulina, they took it upon themselves to investigate the matter. Danny's mom had taken days off of work and they'd pulled multiple all-nighters analyzing samples of dirt and grass from the football field. Finally they were finished, and were currently bringing the findings to the police. Danny groaned at the thought of his crazy parents telling Paulina's dad a 'ghost dragon' had attacked his little girl. But at least it gave him the opportunity to take the thermos back. He let Kerskul get away because he didn't have it with him, and that wasn't going to happen again.

As he was leaving the lab, something caught his eye. It was the control board for the ghost portal. It wasn't on, but some lights labeled 'WARNING' were flashing. Walking over, Danny checked that all the wires were plugged in and the switches were off. Everything seemed to be in order (as far as he could tell, but who knows what his dad thought was 'order'). Danny was about to give up and go back upstairs. After all, the last time he'd touched the control board, he'd gotten the power to turn into a ghost. Danny would've left the lab, had it not been for the icy cold shiver that ran down his spine.

"Really?" he hissed, looking around the lab for the ghost.

A faint sound made its way to Danny's ears. It sounded like something moving quickly across metal. Danny, listening carefully, followed it. As he crept around a table piled with spare parts, he unscrewed the top of the thermos.

Danny whirled around as something behind him clattered to the ground. He saw a spare bit of scrap metal spinning down to a rest on the tile floor. Moving closer, he spoke.

"Come out," Danny said. He tried to sound confident, but his voice came out more scared than anything else. He picked up the scrap metal, turning it over in his hands. It was warm to the touch.

A coil of wire threw itself to the floor behind him. Again, Danny whirled to face it. Then the cabinets on his right started shuddering.

"Don't—" Danny started to say, but the cabinet doors flew open and the contents flew across the room. Danny ducked to keep from being hit by glass beakers. As he straightened up, he saw a shadow across the room. Danny grinned. The shadow jumped towards him.

"Gotcha!" he yelled, and pointed the thermos at the ghost. But it was gone before he could pull it inside.

Danny froze, waiting for something else to move. Nothing did. He looked inside the thermos. Nothing there. And he wasn't possessed... His thought process was interrupted as he heard the garage door start to open.

"Crap!" he said, and ran towards the stairs, jumping over piles of broken glass on his way out. He made it to his room just as his parents got in the kitchen.

* * *

Danny sat across from Tucker and Sam at the Nasty Burger.

"It just vanished," he said, "It could be anywhere."

"And it got out of the portal when it wasn't on?" Sam asked, leaning over the table. Danny nodded.

"As far as I can tell." Tucker crossed his arms.

"Well it was only a shadow. That's good, right?" he asked.

"I don't know. I mean...should I be looking for it? I can't just aimlessly wander around town, can I?" Danny replied. Tuck shrugged and Sam shook her head.

"There's nothing you can do until he pops back up," she said. Danny grabbed some of the cheesy fries on his plate and shoved them in his mouth, discontented.

"I'll be back," Sam said, getting up from the table. She hopped awkwardly on one foot for a moment, until she got her crutches positioned under her arms. Then she started towards the bathrooms. As soon as she was out of earshot, Tuck slid directly in front of Danny and leaned over the table.

"So what's it like?" He asked.

"What's what like?" Danny said.

"Dating Paulina!" Danny shrugged, pulling his phone from his pocket and checking it for messages. The screen flickered a little bit, and he frowned, pushing harder to try and make it work. Finally he managed to open his text messages.

"It's cool," Danny said, finally replying to Tuck's question. Tucker glared at him.

"Oh, come on!" he hissed, "You think I've been waiting for Sam to finish her fourth all-natural caffeine-free diet Cherry Whiz for 'it's cool'?"

"Okay," Danny said, "It's pretty awesome."

"Have you kissed her yet?" Danny grinned, raising his eyebrows.

"She kisses me," he said.

"What?! And you didn't tell me?" Danny scoffed.

"You realize we're not teenage girls, right?" he said, and heard a familiar sigh. He and Tucker attempted to look innocent, but it was too late.

"You realize how offensive that is, right?" Sam echoed back to him, pushing Tucker further into the booth and taking her seat back.

"But it's true," Danny said. Sam narrowed her eyes at him.

"Maybe for Paulina," she replied, her tone challenging. When Danny backed off, she added: "I don't know what you see in her."

"Are you kidding?" Danny said sarcastically, "She's only like, _perfectly flawless_."

He shook his head.

"Seriously Sam, I'm not stupid. Paulina does have a brain, even if she tries to convince people otherwise. And she likes me."

"Only because she thinks you saved her from a dragon."

"I _did_ save her from a dragon. A dragon that just happened to be you," Danny said.

"Then maybe you should be thanking me," Sam said, flippant.

"Maybe you should stay out of my relationship," Danny replied.

"O-okay guys." Tucker tried to intervene, but Danny and Sam ignored him completely.

"Between you and my sister and Dash and everyone else at school, I've had enough of people asking me why Paulina is dating a 'guy like me'." Sam leaned low over the table and hissed at him.

"They only ask because Paulina's a vapid bitch who's only with you because she's obsessed with the fact that you saved her. Give it a month and she'll move on to the next big strong hero."

"Funny you say that, because I don't think Paulina's the bitch here," Danny shot back. He regretted the words as soon as he said them, especially when Sam tried to hide the tears that sprang to her eyes.

"Alright," she said, "Don't listen to me. We'll see how that goes." Grabbing her purse and crutches, she stormed out of the restaurant as quickly as she could. Tucker watched the scene unfold, unable to stop the painful downward spiral. Danny grabbed more cheesy fries and bit into them fiercely.

"Dude," Tucker said, "That was cold."

"_Dude_, it's none of her business anyway," Danny replied. Tucker put his hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture.

"I'm just saying. For whatever reason, Paulina bothers Sam. You could be a little more sensitive." Danny glared at him, then went back to his fries.

"What are you, a feelings expert all of a sudden? And besides, you brought it up in the first place."

"Fenton!" _Great_, Danny thought to himself as Dash came over to their table. He was flanked by two of his teammates.

"Yes, Dash?" Danny replied.

"Party. My house. Friday. Bring Paulina and don't embarrass her." Danny raised his eyebrows.

"You're inviting me to a party?" he asked. Dash shrugged, shoving his hands down in his pockets. He spoke as if it pained him to be so gruffly polite.

"Yeah, well...Paulina's a friend. And you're her boyfriend. So yeah." With that, he walked away, the other two following him like hulking henchmen.

"Well that was weird," Tuck said.

"No kidding," Danny replied. All of a sudden, his phone let out a loud beep, followed by some static noise. The screen flickered.

"Dammit!" Danny cursed, picking it up and trying desperately to resist the urge to hit it on the table. Tuck intervened, saving the poor device before Danny did something he would regret.

"I don't get it! It was working fine!" Danny exclaimed.

"It could be a ghost thing," Tucker suggested, "Want me to take a look at it?"

"Yeah, thanks," Danny said.

He pushed his now empty plate away from him and leaned forward onto the table, putting his forehead down on crossed arms.

"You gonna be alright?" Tucker asked.

"Maybe," Danny mumbled into his arms.

"Danny?" Danny looked up, and saw Paulina standing over him.

"Paulina! Hey!" he said.

"I've been texting you all day, why didn't you answer?" she said. Danny made a face and pointed to his phone.

"It's completely broken. I tried checking messages but it only gets about half of them and it won't send any. I'm sorry," he said. Paulina shrugged.

"No, I was just worried you were mad at me." A concerned look spread over Danny's face.

"And that's my cue to go," Tuck said, sliding out the other side of the seat.

"See ya, Danny," he said, and headed for the door. Danny gave a vague goodbye in his direction, still focused on Paulina.

"Mad? Why would I be mad at you?" he asked. Paulina shrugged and sat down in Tuck's seat.

"I don't know," she said, "But usually when your boyfriend doesn't text you back he's either cheating on you or mad at you." Danny frowned.

"I would never—Paulina I'm sorry, I should've called your house or something." Paulina laughed a little.

"My dad would've just hung up on you. He's not exactly happy about us being together," she said.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Danny said, unsure what exactly to do in this situation.

"It's not your fault. That's just how he is," Paulina replied, "Although your parents aren't doing us any favors, trying to convince him that the dragon was really there." Danny grimaced.

"I wish they would stop," he said, "I've told them over and over the dragon wasn't real."

"Yeah..." Paulina said. A moment of silence stretched between them.

"...You don't still think there was a dragon, do you?" Danny asked. Paulina shrugged.

"I don't know. After talking to everyone at school, what you said happened just made more sense. It's a shame though, I kind of liked the whole 'knight in shining armor' thing," she said.

"Well, maybe I didn't fight a dragon, but I can still be a knight in shining armor," Danny said jokingly. Paulina gave him a weak smile.

"True," she said, "If you can deal with my dad, it's almost the same thing." Another moment of silence.

"Hey," Danny said, "Dash is having a party this Friday, wanna go?" Paulina's eyes lit up.

"A party! Yes!" she said. She reached across the table and grabbed his hands.

"Our first party!" she exclaimed, "It's gonna be so much fun. You can hang out with all my friends, and we can dance. And Dash will have good drinks there, none of the cheap stuff."

She leaned across the table and kissed his cheek.

"This is going to be great!"

"Yeah," Danny said, glad he was able to make her so happy.

Paulina drove Danny home (he only questioned her concussion for a moment before she scolded him into the car), chattering the whole way about what she should wear, and whether or not she and Danny should try and coordinate. She eventually decided against it, because it was far too middle school for a party at Dash's house.

"But wear something nice!" She called through the open window as she sped away from his house. Danny gave her a double thumbs up, then looked at his hands, embarrassed.

"Thumbs up?" he said aloud to himself, shaking his head as he turned and walked up to his front door.

* * *

Sam lay on her stomach on Tuck's bed as he fiddled with Danny's phone. The thing still wasn't working right. It would show a blank screen, or pixelated text, or emit loud and sudden noises, no matter how many times Tuck turned it on and off. Finally he decided to try and get at it through his computer. Pulling out his laptop, he plugged the phone in using a USB cord.

"Is that really gonna work?" Sam asked, swinging her good foot back and forth as she looked up from her book.

"It should," Tuck said, then spouted out some technological mumbo jumbo that Sam wasn't inclined to try and decipher.

"Wow," she said like she was listening, and went back to her book. Tucker paused in his techno-geeking and spun his seat around to face Sam.

"Can I ask you a question?" he said.

"Shoot," Sam replied, still focused on her book.

"Why can't you just tell Danny you like him? Isn't this whole love triangle thing a bit cliche?" Sam rolled her eyes at the question, slamming her book shut. She pushed herself into a sitting position.

"I know!" she exclaimed, "And it's not like I _want_ to like Danny. He's annoying. And thick headed. And God can he be shallow! But I do and it's just so..." She let her hands drop into her lap.

"...frustrating," she finished. Tucker blinked, a little shocked at the flood of anger that had come spilling out of her.

"Then can't you just...stop liking him?" he asked. Sam slouched.

"I wish," she said, "Because he doesn't like me. Sometimes I think he doesn't even want to be my friend." Tucker rolled his chair over to the bed.

"That's not true."

"It is! We fight—all the time, in case you haven't noticed," she said. Tuck gave her an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I wish I could do something."

"Wave your magic fairy wand and make my feelings go away?" Sam suggested. Tucker laughed.

"I can do the next best thing," he said. Sam eyed him, suspicious.

"If the next words out of your mouth are in any way related to your '_magic wand_', I will hurt you," she warned. Tuck shrugged.

"Well I was going to challenge you to a Mario Kart tournament, but now that you mention it—"

"No!" Sam exclaimed. She shoved his shoulder playfully, sending his chair into a full spin as both of them cracked up laughing.

"But I will take you up on Mario Kart," Sam said. Grinning, Tuck picked up her crutches and helped her get off the bed without putting any weight on her ankle.

They left Danny's phone plugged into Tuck's computer to finish connecting. If they'd turned to look at the screen on the way out, they would've seen the static disturbance that flickered across it.


	2. Chapter 2

Interference

TWO

Monday morning was hard. Danny had spent most of the night texting Paulina, and didn't have the nerve to tell her he needed to go to sleep until it was already two a.m. The blaring of his alarm felt like a death sentence at six o'clock. Getting out of bed was like jumping into an ice cold pool. And when his dad came dashing into the kitchen with a 'new breakthrough' on the dragon case, Danny thought it might as well have been an elephant stomping around their house.

"Wha?" he said, mouth half full of mushy cereal.

"Danny, don't talk with your mouth full," Jazz scolded, walking over to the table with a bowl of fresh cut fruit. Irritably, Danny swallowed the cereal and looked back to his dad.

"What?" he said.

"Danny, I know you think you didn't see a dragon in the field, but we've examined the gouges in the field made by its claws, and it seems like the creature had an injured back leg." Fear washed over Danny, and he tried not to let it show how close his dad had hit to the truth.

"Really?" he said, trying to sound incredulous. His dad leaned in, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Jack said his next words slowly and carefully. It was only through many hours of examining and reexamining that he even dared to bring the suggestion to his son.

"Son, is there anything you want to tell me?" he asked. Danny forced his face to remain blank.

"...About Sam?" His dad prodded. Jazz threw her book down on the table.

"Dad! You aren't suggesting that Sam Manson turns into a dragon and attacks high school dances in her free time!" she exclaimed. Jack began talking quickly, presenting his argument as fast as he could before they could accuse him of being completely crazy. Even as the words left his mouth they turned ridiculous under the critical eye of his children.

"It's a strong coincidence that Sam's broken ankle is the same as the dragon's injured leg. And we've picked up remnants of ghost activity. The most likely scenario is that Sam owns a haunted object that somehow transformed her into a dragon. And Danny, if you're covering for her, I understand that you want to keep your friend out of trouble. But anything Sam did as a dragon is not something she did in her right mind, so she's perfectly safe."

Inwardly, Danny was gawking at his Dad's accuracy. Suddenly he was sorry for every time he ever made fun of him behind his back. Outwardly, he just scoffed.

"Dad, if Sam turned into a dragon every time she got mad, you would know," he said. His dad frowned.

"Every time she got mad?" he said. _Crap_, Danny thought. Now both his dad and sister were watching him suspiciously.

"Didn't you say that?" Danny said, trying not to sound guilty. His dad shook his head.

"No."

"Oh, I thought you did," Danny replied. He shoved a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. His dad seemed like he was about to question him further, but Jazz butted in.

"You remember how you said you wanted us to tell you when things started to get crazy?" she asked.

"This isn't—"

"Dad. You think Sam Manson is a dragon," she said. She dropped her chin a little, looking up at him with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. Their dad stopped, rubbing his hands over his face.

"No, no you're right," he said. He started walking away, scratching his head and muttering about going back to the raw data. Danny felt suddenly guilty for letting his dad believe he was wrong. He ignored the feeling, remembering the parent teacher conference earlier that week.

* * *

Danny had managed to keep his mom from finding out about the conference until last minute, which meant that she couldn't get out of work in time to go. So it was just Danny and his dad meeting with Mr. Lancer.

"Hey Mr. Fenton," Lancer said, standing to shake his hand as they walked in the room.

"Mr. Lancer," Danny's dad said in greeting. All three sat down.

"I've been a bit concerned about Danny lately," Lancer said, as if Danny wasn't sitting right there.

"Well," Danny interjected as his dad was about to talk, "It's no big deal. I'm sorry about the food fight, I should've told Tucker it was stupid from the beginning. I promise, I'm never going to do anything like that again." Mr. Lancer raised his eyebrows, and Danny's dad took the moment to talk.

"Actually," he said, "I'm a bit worried about you too, Danny." Danny turned to him, trying to send his dad the mental message: _just nod and smile, and we'll get out of here quicker_. His dad obviously didn't get it, because he continued speaking.

"Between the attack in the cafeteria and the dragon at the dance, you've been in the middle of some very stressful events," his dad said, "And your grades have been dropping." Danny frowned. He didn't know his dad looked at his grades.

"That's a valid concern," Mr. Lancer said, "Most of the time students' grades drop when something in their personal lives changes. Of course it's not the place of the school to regulate student behavior out of class hours, but if it becomes an issue for your performance in school, we'd like to help out however we can." When Danny didn't say anything, he added: "And considering you're a good student, and your sister has been so successful, I want to make sure you have everything you need to do well."

"I'm fine," Danny said. Mr. Lancer and his dad exchanged glances.

"You've seemed really tired lately, and stressed," Danny's dad said, "And you've been hanging out with Sam and Tucker less."

"Dad, I'm fine," Danny said, becoming irritated.

"Mr. Fenton," Lancer said, "I know you're very busy with your research, but you work from home, correct?"

"Yes," Danny's dad said.

"Maybe you and Danny could set up a system for going over homework together—I'm sure Jazz would like to get involved too."

"That sounds like a good idea," Danny's dad said.

"Dad!" Danny hissed.

"No, it _is_ a good idea," Danny's dad replied, then turned back to Mr. Lancer. Danny watched in horror as they started to discuss the most effective ways to get teenagers to do work.

Danny and his dad walked back to the car in silence.

"I can't believe you just did that," Danny said.

"Did what?" his dad asked.

"Told Mr. Lancer all that bullshit about 'father-son bonding time'," Danny said.

"Hey," his dad said sharply, "Since when do you say bullshit?" Danny shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I dunno," he said, "It's no big deal." His dad stepped in front of him, stopping both of them in the middle of the hallway.

"No, it is a _big deal_. I don't like you using that kind of language. At least not with me," he said. Danny grinned, laughing a little.

"_Okay _dad," he said, "Anything else you want to tell me to do?"

"Yeah," his dad said, "Get your grades up. I don't want my son failing out of high school." Danny frowned, starting to grow angry. He stepped around his dad and started walking down the hallway.

"Danny, stop!" his dad said, grabbing his arm as gently as he could. Danny pulled out of his dad's grasp roughly.

"What's the big deal?" he exclaimed.

"You're slipping, that's the big deal," his dad said, "And you disrespect me when I tell you that's not okay." Danny rolled his eyes.

"Dad, listen—"

"No, I've done enough listening. I've always been pretty lax with with you, Danny. And you've always taken pretty good care of things by yourself. But I am not okay with this, and neither is your mother." Danny scoffed.

"You sound like Jazz," he muttered. His dad drew himself up, crossing his arms and looking sternly down at Danny.

"I don't want you talking back to me anymore. I'm your father, and it's disrespectful," he said. Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"What the hell?" he said, "My grades aren't even that bad! I've missed a couple homework assignments, that's it."

"And got a D on a test, and two C's on quizzes. You're not a D-C student, Danny. And what's with the language?" Danny crossed his arms, looking down at the ground and refusing to reply. His dad sighed.

"Fine. We'll talk about this with your mother when she gets home," he said.

They _had_ talked with Danny's mom, and she was just as uncharacteristically angry. They even snapped at Jazz when she tried to poke her head in and say something about authoritative versus authoritarian parenting. In the end, Danny had been banished to his room to do homework (call Paulina and complain about his stupid parents) while they talked (fought about who was responsible for his behavior) and eventually his mom went to bed (banished his dad to the couch). In the few days since the conference Danny's dad had been mostly somber, and his mom would badger him about homework over dinner. It didn't help that Jazz kept giving Danny knowing looks whenever things got tense. It wasn't like Danny wanted them to be fighting. He just wanted them to be back to normal.

* * *

Jazz drove Danny to school, where he proceeded to not talk to Sam, barely exchange words with Tucker, and sit with Paulina and the other cheerleaders at lunch. At least _they_ seemed happy for him to be around. And as he was dumping the remains of his drowned-in-ranch salad into the trash, Dash even came up to him.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," Danny replied.

"You and Paulina coming on Friday?"

"Yeah, of course," Danny replied. Dash grinned.

"Cool, man," he said, slapping Danny's arm. Danny smiled back, rubbing his arm uncomfortably.

"I just wanted to let you know about the dress code," Dash said.

"Dress code?"

"Yeah. It's kind of a formal thing. Not like suit formal, but, you know, game-day-dress."

"Okay," Danny said, "Thanks."

"No problem. Remember what I said, don't embarrass her," Dash said, slapping him again on the arm and walking off. _Huh_, Danny thought. He caught sight of Tucker and Sam watching him from across the cafeteria. From this distance, he could see Sam rolling her eyes. She turned back to Tucker and continued with whatever conversation they were having. Scowling, Danny walked out of the cafeteria.

Tucker handed Danny's phone to Sam.

"It crashed my system," he said, "I went back and looked at it after you left, and whatever is on this phone, it's not normal."

Sam turned the phone over in her hands, then tried to turn it on. It just buzzed and died with a sad little beep.

"So weird," she said, "You think it's a ghost thing?"

"I don't know. I don't think Danny's powers would affect it from a distance"

"So what then?" Sam asked.

"Well, I'd say it was just a virus, but it's not like anything I've ever seen. There's no trace of it at all, like it's not even there. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was a _ghost_ virus. But that's ridiculous." Sam handed him the phone back, musing over the thought. It was possible, she supposed. They really had no idea what ghosts could do. She made a list in her head. Fly. Turn invisible. Go through walls. Possess people. Control objects with their minds. Make lights flicker. And then there was the whole dragon thing, which they didn't know had to do anything with a ghost but probably did. Sam sighed. She should start writing this stuff down.

"You alright?" Tuck asked.

"Yeah. I need to talk to Danny though," she said. Tucker raised an eyebrow.

"I can tell him about the ghost virus theory if you want me to," Tucker said. Sam shook her head.

"No, I need to talk to him about more than that," she said.

"He's probably with Paulina right now," Tuck said. _Great_, Sam thought. But she just shrugged.

"Well Paulina will just have to deal with it," she said. She got up and put her tray away, then walked to Danny's locker. Sure enough, Paulina was leaning against it, twirling her hair around her finger and looking up at him through long lashes in a 'come hither' expression that made Sam want to gag. Before she lost her nerve, she crutched right over to them.

"Hey Danny, Paulina," she said, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Oh hey Sammy!" Paulina said, overly friendly, "How are you? We haven't talked since the dance. I was just telling Danny how much I want to get to know his friends since he always seems to be hanging out with mine. We're going to a party this Friday!"

"Really?" Sam replied, just as smiley, "That should be fun."

"Aren't you invited?" Paulina asked.

"Not my scene," Sam said. Paulina looked to Danny, pouting.

"That sucks! Hey, I bet I could talk Dash into letting them come," she said, looking back to Sam.

"That's really not necessary," Sam said, "Like I said, not my scene."

"No! It'll be fun! Danny and I will get to hang out with you guys as an actual couple. Oh, you and Tucker could come together!"

"Oh, they're not—" Danny tried to say, but Paulina cut him off.

"I've always thought you two would be really cute together. Nerd love! It's so adorable," she said. Sam forced her face to smile.

"Tucker is just a friend," she said. Paulina shrugged.

"Oh well," she said, then turned to Danny, "I gotta go. See you later!" She kissed his cheek and walked away. Sam watched Danny's stupid happy expression as Paulina walked away and had to remind herself not to rip his head off.

"Danny, we need to talk," Sam said. Danny turned to her, his face falling.

"About what?" he asked. Sam looked at the people around him

"Let's find someplace a little quieter," she said. Danny nodded, and they walked over to the nearest stairwell. As soon as the door shut, Sam started talking.

"Tucker's been looking at your phone," she said, "And he thinks it may have a _ghost_ virus."

"What?" Danny said, "That's ridiculous."

"Yeah, but remember the ghost you let out of the portal?"

"I didn't let—"

"Have you seen it at all?" Danny frowned.

"Not really," he said.

"Precisely," Sam replied.

"So then what do we do?" Danny asked. Sam shook her head.

"I don't know. But if it's in the phone, we can probably just throw it back in the ghost portal and trap it there."

"Alright," Danny said, "My dad'll be out of the house Wednesday afternoon. Do you guys wanna come over then?"

"Sounds good," Sam replied. Danny then spoke hesitantly.

"Is there anything else?"

"Yeah," Sam said, "I wanted to say I'm sorry for giving you shit about Paulina." Danny nodded.

"Thanks," he said.

Sam looked at him expectantly. Danny frowned.

"What?"

"Well...I just thought you might want to apologize for calling me a bitch," she said. Danny crossed his arms.

"I didn't call you that," he said. Sam's eyes widened.

"Yes you did." she said.

"Okay, well I didn't mean to!" Danny replied.

"You didn't mean to?"

"I didn't want to! But what can I do when you attack my relationship any chance you get?" Sam looked down at her feet, silently counting to five in her head.

"Fine Danny," she said. She turned on her crutches and walked over to the stairwell door, trying to open it. Cursing under her breath, she nearly dropped her crutches.

"Here," Danny said. He walked over and opened it for her.

"I got it!" Sam snapped, swinging through the door and knocking Danny in the stomach with her elbow. He let out an 'oof' as she crutched away from him. He watched her go, running a hand through his hair and sighing. The stairwell door swung shut behind her, catching on the hinge at the top before it slammed, then hissing slowly as it fell into place.

* * *

Danny rode home with Paulina after her cheer practice. Even though she wasn't allowed to do the moves herself, she had no problem ordering the others around as usual. All the girls were friendly with him now, poking fun with affection instead of malice. Paulina even seemed proud to be with him, flaunting him and laughing loudly over every joke he made. It wasn't until they got in the car that their conversation turned serious.

"I'm sorry! I totally wouldn't have invited her if I knew she was being a bitch like that," Paulina was saying.

"It's just so frustrating. Our school is so messed up about stuff like this. People always _expect_ you to be a certain way and they freak out when you're not like them."

"I know!" Paulina said, "And she's your _friend_. I mean, Dash came around days ago."

"And he's _Dash_," Danny added. Paulina slowed, stopping at a red light. She gave a little sigh.

"Of course," she said, "Dash doesn't have a crush on me, so I guess it's different"

"Wait, what?" Danny asked. Paulina looked over at him.

"Listen Danny, I think Sam might be a bit...I dunno...jealous," she said. Danny stared at her, wide-eyed. A harsh laugh came tumbling out of his mouth.

"That's...ridiculous," he said, offended that Paulina could even come up with such an incredulous accusation. Behind them, a car horn sounded, and Paulina jerked her eyes back to the now green light. With a small jolt, the car shot forward across the intersection. Relaxing her arms, she let them slow down to just over the speed limit.

"She's really protective of you."

"Yeah, well, we've been friends for a long time. We don't think of each other that way." Paulina rolled her eyes and groaned a little as they pulled into his neighborhood.

"Danny, the first thing you need to learn about girls that are friends is that they ALWAYS think of you that way, at least once."

"You're telling me girls go around and imagine themselves in a relationship with every guy they meet?" Danny asked.

"Guys do it too!" Paulina defended.

"No we don't," Danny shot back.

"You're telling me that you've NEVER thought of dating Sam? Ever?" Paulina said. Danny opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off.

"Ever?" she added, with such finality that Danny felt himself growing angry at her conviction.

"Never," he snapped. Paulina sighed again.

"Well then you're different from every guy I've ever met," she said. Danny crossed his arms and sunk down in the passenger seat as they rounded the corner onto his street.

"It's not like that with Sam," he muttered. Paulina pulled to a stop in front of his house. Danny grabbed his backpack and opened the door, more than ready to get out of the awkward conversation. Paulina put a hand on his arm, stopping him.

"Hey," she said, "Dash wanted me to help him set up for the party, is there any way you can get another ride?"

"Yeah, sure," Danny said.

"Great," Paulina said, with a smile. They stood like that, frozen, for a moment. Suddenly Danny's urge to leave doubled back on itself and he would've said anything to keep her from driving away. He didn't know why, but the thought of her setting up for a party with Dash annoyed him.

"See you at school," Paulina said, making a face, "God, it's only Monday!" Danny grinned.

"Yeah," he said, "Crazy. Bye."

He stepped out of the car and closed the door behind him, then walked straight up to his house without looking back. The ride home had left an unpleasant taste in his mouth that he didn't really want to think about.


	3. Chapter 3

Phantom: Interference

THREE

Danny was vaguely surprised that Wednesday afternoon when he opened the door and found Tucker and Sam standing on the brick porch.

"...Hey..." he said. Tucker held up Danny's phone. Suddenly he remembered that they weren't here to apologize for ignoring him.

"Right, basement," he instructed. He let them into the house and then closed the door as they headed downstairs. Jazz appeared at the top of the steps to the second floor.

"Who's here?" she asked, "Paulina?"

"No," Danny said, "Sam and Tucker."

"Oh that's good. I thought you guys were fighting."

"We made up," Danny said. He thought his voice fell a little flat on the lie, but Jazz seemed to buy it.

"Okay," she said, "Just stay out of Mom and Dad's lab. Who knows what you could get into down there." She turned and walked back to her room. _You have no idea_, Danny thought to himself.

When he joined them in the basement, Sam and Tucker were already standing around the control board for the doorway. Sam held the cellphone and leaned on her crutches, while Tucker hovered over the electronics and muttered to himself. Tuck looked up and saw Danny walking towards them. He started talking quickly and excitedly.

"Dude, this is so cool. I was reading your parents research—just in case, you know—and they hypothesized that by creating a magnetic field and forcing electric charges through it at specific intervals, you could...how do I explain this...force the dimensions of life and limbo together. Two dimensions existing in the same place at the same time. If I didn't know you, I'd say it's completely insane, just another crazy pseudoscience, but it seems they were on to something." Danny frowned.

"So when I fell through the portal—" he started to say.

"You were touching both dimensions at one time. Somehow that...ghostified you," Tucker said. Sam stepped in just as he was about to go off on another tangent.

"That's great," she said, "But the important thing is the ghost virus, right?" Tucker nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "Just give me a second." He started fiddling with the controls, and flipping through a pile of notes on the table next to him. Danny looked at Sam, the conversation with Paulina from Monday coming back up in his mind. She didn't think of him like that, he was sure. If she did, she wouldn't be so mad at him all the time. Paulina liked him, and she was never as mean as Sam could be.

"What?" Sam snapped at him, noticing his gaze.

"Nothing," Danny replied quickly. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're a bad liar," she said, "What's wrong?" Danny shrugged, his mind scrambling for something to say. A lightbulb went off.

"My dad thought you were the dragon," he said. Sam's eyes grew wide.

"What the hell?!" she exclaimed, "Why didn't you tell me?" Danny shook his head.

"No, no. I told him it was impossible and everything, he's past it now," he replied. Sam leaned back on her crutches a little.

"God, Danny. Don't scare me like that," she said.

"...I'm sorry," he said. Tucker stood up.

"Okay!" he interrupted, "That should do it." Danny took the phone from Sam.

"So...I just throw it through?" he asked. He eyed the air inside the doorway. It didn't seem any different from the rest of the room, despite the now-sparking coils around the doorway's edge.

"As far as I can tell," Tucker replied. Danny nodded.

"Okay then," he said, and walked over to the doorway. Holding the phone up, he tossed it through. It clattered to the floor on the other side. Everyone in the room waited for a moment, but nothing seemed to happen. Danny sighed.

"Well that worked," he said sarcastically and stepped forward to grab the phone. As he reached through the barrier, he felt his arm go cold, and then start to burn. Shouting in pain, he fell to the floor.

* * *

When Danny woke up, he was laying in his bed. Sam was sitting at his feet, and Tucker was sitting in his desk chair. The two of them were involved in a deep conversation.

"What do you mean?" Sam was asking.

"It's really weird, I know, but I think that because he was touching both dimensions, he was forced to be BOTH ghost and human at the same time. Which is impossible, so it overrode his system. It's a good thing I shut the field down, or else it would've killed him."

"No kidding," Sam said softly. Danny groaned, letting them know he was awake. They turned to him, worried looks on their faces.

"What happened?" he asked. Tucker shrugged.

"You were fried," he said.

"What about the phone?" Danny asked. Tucker held it up. The glass screen had a number of cracks spreading out from one of the corners.

"I think it wiped the virus," Tucker explained, "But you're gonna need a new screen." He handed the phone to Danny, who clenched it tightly in his right hand.

"Thanks..." Danny muttered. Sam glanced at her own phone, checking the time.

"We should go," she said, "before your parents get home. Are you gonna be okay?" Danny sat up, testing his muscles.

"Yeah, I think so," he said.

"Alright then," Sam said. Danny watched as Tucker grabbed her crutches and helped her to her feet.

"Thanks guys," he said, "Really."

"No big deal," Tucker said. Groaning, Danny stood and walked them downstairs.

"See you tomorrow?" he asked as they hovered at the door. Sam gave Danny a half smile.

"See you," she said. Tucker's dad, already parked at the curb, rolled his window down and called out to them.

"Bye," Tuck said. They turned to leave, and Danny closed the door.

* * *

Danny had told Paulina he would find his own ride to Dash's that Friday, but he hadn't had much success. Admittedly, he was too nervous to ask any of his new friends. The cheerleaders were still too intimidating, and the football players were out of the question. Tucker and Sam would rather die than go (well, Sam would rather die, and Tuck was taking her side), and neither of them could drive in the first place. It was Friday afternoon and he was now down to his last resort.

"Jazz?" he called softly, knocking on his sister's bedroom door.

"Yeah?" she replied from inside. He opened the door and found her at her desk, staring critically at her laptop.

"What's up?" He asked.

"A paper on the potential hazards caused by fracking," she said. Danny drew his eyebrows together.

"The potential hazards of _what_?" he asked.

"Fracking. Hydraulic fracturing. It's when they shoot water down into solid rock to release natural gas. Tell me, in what world does that sound like a good idea?" she said. Danny made a face.

"The one where it makes money?" he suggested. Jazz scoffed.

"No kidding. Anyway, anything I can help you with? Is dad's new homework regime killing you?" Groaning, Danny sat down on her bed.

"Don't remind me," he said, "I'm not thinking about it right now." Jazz spun her chair around, crossing her arms.

"That might not be a good idea," she said. Danny rolled his eyes.

"Dad's overreacting," he replied. Jazz nodded, which surprised him.

"That I can agree with. Cracking down on you is only going to make it worse. He and mom have never realized how headstrong you are," she said. Danny wasn't sure if it was a compliment or an insult, but at least she agreed with him.

"But that's not what you came for," Jazz said.

"Yeah, right. I was wondering if you could give me a ride somewhere tonight," he said. Jazz sat up a little straighter.

"To Dash's?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"...Okay," she said, "What time do you want to leave?"

"Seven?"

"Okay," Jazz said. Danny grinned.

"Great, thanks," he said. He was surprised at how easy that had been. He figured she would've asked him a zillion questions about who was gonna be there and what they were gonna be doing, then tell him that he had to be a responsible young adult, blah, blah, blah—

* * *

"Is there going to be drinking? You know, like alcohol drinking? Like beer?" Jazz asked worriedly as they turned into Dash's neighborhood. Danny opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him off.

"No! No. Never mind. I don't want to know," she said. Danny started counting in his head. _One. Two. Three—_

"But just promise that you'll be responsible, okay Danny? You'll be safe right? At least if you're drinking—are you going to drink?" she said, glancing at him and then back to the road.

"Jazz—"

"No! Don't tell me! I don't want to know that!" she exclaimed. Danny sighed, staring at her with an exasperated look on his face.

"Jazz I'll be fine," he said. Jazz pulled to a stop just before Dash's house.

"I know," she said, "But I don't know how any of this—" she gestured to Dash's house "—stuff works. It's just an older sister thing, you know? You don't know. I'm sorry."

"Thanks for driving me Jazz," Danny said, unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car. He shut the door, but heard the window roll down behind him.

"Wait!" Jazz said. He stopped, and turned back to her.

"Call me when you want to come home, okay?" she said. Danny pursed his lips and nodded.

"O-kay," he said. He was more than ready for her to go.

"_Mom_," he added, when she didn't immediately drive away. Jazz shook her head, giving him a stern look.

"Don't start with me!" she said, then rolled up the window and drove off. Danny grinned and walked up Dash's front lawn. He could hear music coming faintly from the house, and nearly all the windows were lit. The sounds of laughter and splashing water came from the backyard. He stepped up to the door and went to ring the doorbell, then paused. Was he supposed to ring the doorbell? Or was he just supposed to walk in? He didn't want to embarrass Paulina, either way. Maybe he should just walk in, then he could play it off as overconfidence. As he went to grab the knob, the door suddenly swung open, revealing Paulina.

"Danny! Hi..." She trailed off, looking him up and down. Her expression faded into a slight open-mouthed frown. Danny looked down at his outfit: a white dress shirt and black slacks, with a plain tie.

"Danny..." Paulina said, "Um..." She quickly looked around her and then grabbed his wrist, pulling him into the house and up the stairs before anyone could see him. Shoving him into a small-ish bathroom, she closed and locked the door behind them. Danny examined Paulina's outfit. She was wearing skinny jeans and a white tank top with a grey vest. Suddenly he felt foolish. Paulina turned to him and sighed.

"Here," she said. She loosened his tie and pulled it off his neck.

"Dash told me—" Danny tried to say. Paulina scoffed.

"He's like that," she said, "He likes pulling pranks." She unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up until they sat at his elbows. Then she yanked his shirttails out of his pants. Stepping back, she examined her handiwork.

"Gah," she said, "Give me a sec, I'm gonna go get a pair of Dash's jeans." She disappeared through a sliding door into an adjoining room. Looking at himself in the mirror, Danny ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it up a little bit. He smoothed down his shirt, then grimaced. Paulina might defend Dash, but Danny knew how the guy really was. He'd done this on purpose.

Danny suddenly felt angry. It wasn't fair. All he wanted to do was be with Paulina, and everyone was acting like it was some sort of crime. Fists clenched, he stormed out of the bathroom. By the time his feet hit the first floor, Danny was seeing red.

"Dash!" he yelled into the living room of people next to the stairs. Dozens of eyes turned to him, and he felt himself flush red. But he didn't care.

"Where's Dash?" he snapped.

"Hey Danny," Dash said, appearing out of the crowd, "Nice to see you." He grinned, looking Danny up and down.

"Nice suit, buddy," he joked. Danny sneered.

"Funny," he said, "You're a real comic genius, Dash." Paulina ran down the stairs behind him and grabbed his elbow.

"Come on, Danny," she hissed. She tugged at his arm, nails digging in forcibly, but he yanked it out of her grasp. He ignored the light stinging of the scratches her nails left in his skin.

"No, Paulina," Danny said, "Not until _he_ apologizes." He pointed an accusing finger at Dash, who raised his eyebrows and glanced to the room of people behind him. There were several muffled giggles.

"Paulina," Dash said, "I'm sorry. I told him not to embarrass you and I guess he took it the wrong way." Paulina turned on Dash, putting her hands on her hips and cocking her head to the side.

"Oh, really?" she said, "I'm sure that's what you did, Dash." Dash shrugged innocently.

"Don't be too hard on him," he said, "He's just a freshman, he doesn't know about this kind of thing." Paulina narrowed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, holding it for a moment before she let it out with an evil smirk that had cast fear into the hearts of her female classmates since the third grade.

* * *

Tucker sat in front of his computer, putting the finishing touches on an essay for his freshman English class. Just as he hit the save button, the screen flickered. Tuck frowned.

"What the hell?" he muttered. Again, the screen flickered, then pixelated. Then it went back to normal. Exiting out of his essay, Tuck shut the computer down. His hand hovered over the power button as the screen turned black. A few seconds passed. Then speckles of light flicked across the screen. Tuck frowned, and leaned in close to the glass.

A pair of eyes appeared on the screen, inches away from his face.

Tuck threw himself back with a yell, tumbling out of his desk chair onto the ground. The eyes pixelated and then disappeared with a burst of static and high electronic whine.

Tuck scrambled to his feet, grabbing his phone. He called Danny, pacing his room impatiently.

"Come on..." he said, "Pick up...pick up." Danny didn't. Cursing, Tucker called Sam.

* * *

"Don't even get me started on how much of an asshole you are to the girls you date," Paulina ranted, shaking her finger threateningly in Dash's face. His eyes crossed slightly as he tried to bring her hand into focus. Then, shaking his head, he took a step back and gestured to Danny.

"And you're actually dating this kid? This is a serious relationship to you?"

"We are not talking about Danny right now!" Paulina snapped. Danny watched her yell at Dash, as did the entire room of kids behind the football player. They had gone dead silent, some unabashedly staring and others looking anywhere but the fighting pair. Danny saw a few kids sneak out to the backyard, escaping the incredibly awkward room. He only wished he could do the same. Paulina had been yelling for a few minutes now, getting shriller and shriller with every accusation of wrong-doing she dredged up from all the years she'd known Dash. It was a lot of years, Danny guessed, for her to have such ample material.

All the fire had left Danny, the red had faded from his vision, and the last thing he wanted now was Dash to draw more attention to him by apologizing. Gently, he put a hand on Paulina's elbow.

"Paulina," he said, softly as he could. She pulled her arm away, barely glancing at him. Dash was yelling back at her now, something about the stuff he did in sixth grade not applying to the current situation. More of the kids had snuck out of the room behind them, and the ones remaining seemed to realize suddenly that it was weird to stare at such an awkwardly intimate fight. Now they looked around at each other, trying to find the best time to stand and leave without anyone else noticing. Danny looked from Dash, to Paulina, then back to Dash. Sucking in a breath, he yelled over their voices:

"STOP IT!" Both turned to look at him, angered by his interference. The people who were trying to slip from the room stopped. Danny felt their eyes on him, but tried to shrug the feeling off.

"Paulina," he said, "Answer the question." Paulina crossed her arms.

"What?" she asked, an edge to her voice. Danny shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Is this a serious relationship to you?" he said. The people watching exchanged whispers. Paulina glanced at them, then back to Danny.

"That's a stupid question," she said quietly, trying to keep her words from reaching the onlookers.

"Is it?" Danny snapped. Hurt flashed over Paulina's face.

"What do you want me to say?" she asked "That we're going to be _together_ _forever?_ Danny we've been dating like two weeks."

"But is it ever going to be a serious relationship?"

"I don't know!" Paulina said, flustered. A moment of silence hung over the room, until the front door burst open, making everyone jump. Turning, Danny saw Sam and Tucker standing in the doorway.

"Danny!" Tucker snapped, "I need your phone!" Danny blinked, then looked back at the party. Kids had filtered back inside, hovering at the doorway to see the drama unfold. Clearing his throat, Danny pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it out to Tucker.

"Uh, here," he said.

Tuck reached out to grab the phone. The lights flickered.


End file.
